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Ok, so! As a general rule, I hate beer. Prior to this year, I managed to choke down 1 (one) Heineken, and 1 (one) Corona. I just don't care for the taste. I definitely don't care about head, or hops, or lacing, or brew temperatures, or the difference between an ale and a lager. And, having zero tolerance makes beer-tasting/sampling difficult. But, after my dear friend Kallmir2000 (one of the Piglet officers) fed me an oatmeal stout that he brewed, I kind of got hooked. I could practically chew on the thing, and it was delicious! I can't tell you anything about the beers beyond "I liked it" or "I didn't like it" though. Like WTF is 'front end' and 'finish'?

After not being able to suck down a Killians or...some other beer I don't remember, I've decided I'm only drinking stouts and other similarly motor oil-like beers, and it's working out quite well for me.

First I tried a Chicory Stout. I liked it ok.
Then I tried a Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout. I really liked it.
Then I had a Chocolate Bock. I liked it ok.
Then there was a Pandora's Bock, which I liked, and not just for its cutesy pun.
There was a Cream Stout. I didn't like it. It tasted like wine mixed with beer, and it was weird.
And then a few days ago, I had an Imperial Stout that was very, very tasty. Maybe it was all the chocolate. I dunno. All I know is that it was delicious and it got me drunk before I finished 1/3 of the bottle.

Next in the fridge is the World Wide Stout which I'm a little scared to try because it's 18% ABV. 18%!!! Holy crap!!

Also, last year someone got me a bottle of Dogfish Head Fort. If I ever have an occasion to sample what a camel vomiting berries might taste like, I bet this beer would come close. Gross. It did get me pretty wasted, if that's what you like in a beer

As stu said, I seem to be a dark beer girl, too, Jenny!
I'll have to keep an eye out for some of your recommendations, if I can get them, so that we can start comparing notes. :)
I tried this chocolate stout recently and liked it quite a lot. I have their oatmeal stout in stu's fridge for soonish consumption. Rogue is in Portland, and I don't know much about its distribution, so this might just end up with us teasing each other about tasty local beers that the other can't get, until we break down and do a beer(-and-baked-goods) exchange like the boys. :)
I also like Palo Santo Marron, which is not a stout, just dark, but you should be able to find it because Dogfish Head is by you, not me! It has some serious flavor, and I would probably love it if I couldn't taste the alcohol (it's 12%).
I'm hoping to find more delicious things shortly. Join untappd so that we can compare notes, Ms. Underpants! :)

Jenny, if you like really chocolatey stouts and you're on or near the east coast, keep an eye out for Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout and Southern Tier Choklat. The former is a "traditional" imperial stout with chocolate flavors from the roast and the latter is a fairly sweet imperial stout with real dark chocolate in it.

"Have you ever heard the expression, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then throw it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you originally asked for?’"

JennyUnderpants wrote:Prior to this year, I managed to choke down 1 (one) Heineken, and 1 (one) Corona. I just don't care for the taste....
After not being able to suck down a Killians or...some other beer I don't remember, ....

Well, there's your problem right there You have been fooled into thinking that horse piss = beer.

I've always thought that those pseudo-beers are only drinkable if they are so cold that you can't taste them. Kind of like bad vodka. (Well, okay, Corona can be good if it's 100 degrees out and the AC is busted. Maybe.)

A good beer will be tasty at temperatures above 38 degrees F (and even warmer, say 45-50, for darker beers).

And dark beers are great. Yay dark beer! Bitter, dark, complex beer... like my women. Wait. What was I saying?

That can happen in stouts, especially ones that are stored improperly (too warm or too much light) and get oxidized. It's a bad thing.

"Have you ever heard the expression, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then throw it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you originally asked for?’"

stupac2 wrote:I find that the warmer beer gets the more pronounced the alcohol in it is, which bothers me.

That does happen to me for some, but not all, beer. Some darks with high alcohol content still taste fine to me near 50F. Abbey beers taste better really cold, don't they? (I haven't had an abbey beer recently, so I can't quite remember, but I'm picturing a frosted bottle... mmmmm)

But all decent beers can still taste good pretty far above the freezing point (e.g., 38-42F), as compared to low-ABV, crap beers (Bud Light, Schaeffer's Light, Michelob, etc.) that taste terrible no matter what you do to them.

In those cases, though, it isn't the alcohol content that's ruining the taste. It's probably the horse piss.

So one thing I don't get about that is this: the temperature you pour it at is NOT the temperature you drink it at. I don't know about anyone else, but I take 15 minutes to an hour to drink a 12 ounce beer, depending on what I'm doing. That beer will warm up significantly in that amount time, depending on lots of things (but the longer ones will warm more than you'd think given that the volume is getting smaller as you drink it).

So if the ideal drinking temperature is 55 degrees (or whatever), you'd want to serve it colder to actually be around that temperature more (I'm assuming that in this case 50 is preferable to 65).

At any rate, I generally prefer beer colder. But I keep it all in my door so it doesn't get super cold. It's been working for me.

I've found that if you don't pour it in to a frosted glass (and if you do, that's heresy) then the beer reaches a fine temperature. (You* are pouring it in to a glass... right? right?)

*you as in you the reader, not anyone in particular

"Have you ever heard the expression, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then throw it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you originally asked for?’"

Jenny: if you're a little adventurous, you may also want to try porters at some point. They're like stouts, in that they're dark and rich and roasty and often aren't super bitter, so they may appeal to you. Sometimes they're a little less creamy-textured than stouts, which may be part of what you like, but it may be worth a try, as there's often a lot of overlap between the two styles.

Stu: I'm pretty sure food serves to cleanse your palate between sips of beer, so for a really hoppy beer each bite of food is going to make the bitterness more pronounced with your next sip. I may not have this quite right, but I'm pretty sensitive to hops, and it's VERY clear to me that while I can tolerate a hoppier beer by itself (usually the first sips are kind of awful and then I get used to it), I simply can't drink them at all with food. Even a "balanced" beer, which might taste pretty good to me on its own, tends to taste much more bitter and unpleasant with food. I always either drink separately from eating, or only drink sweeter beers with food, because that's all I can take.

preniqueezer wrote:Stu: I'm pretty sure food serves to cleanse your palate between sips of beer, so for a really hoppy beer each bite of food is going to make the bitterness more pronounced with your next sip. I may not have this quite right, but I'm pretty sensitive to hops, and it's VERY clear to me that while I can tolerate a hoppier beer by itself (usually the first sips are kind of awful and then I get used to it), I simply can't drink them at all with food. Even a "balanced" beer, which might taste pretty good to me on its own, tends to taste much more bitter and unpleasant with food. I always either drink separately from eating, or only drink sweeter beers with food, because that's all I can take.

It took me a while to notice, which is kind of odd. Now I'm wondering how many IPAs I tried with food that I thought were unbalanced but actually aren't. MY WHOLE WORLD VIEW IS BEING CALLED INTO QUESTION.

Eigenbasis wrote:I've found that if you don't pour it in to a frosted glass (and if you do, that's heresy) then the beer reaches a fine temperature. (You* are pouring it in to a glass... right? right?)

Bottle? Glass? That reminds me: another technique I use for dealing with hoppier beers is to drink from the bottle. Particularly dry-hopped beers, with lots of aroma. Drinking from the bottle mutes the hop aroma and sometimes a little bitterness. Conversely, if you're all about the hops, the glass would serve you well.

No specific endorsement of any of the links implied, just handy pictures. As a disclaimer, I don't own a stein, a boot, a big glass mug, or the Stella Artois glasses, but I wish I did. Mostly I use standard pints and Guinness style glasses (local bars in Ft. Collins had a pint night that let us keep the glasses and get cheap refills), but when I remember to dig out the New Belgium globe I swear I enjoy the beer more, just because it feels really sophisticated, and it's good for both seeing and smelling the beer.

I just want to say that reading this thread really makes me want to try real beer. Sadly, I don't have impressive access to it now. I have 1 craft beer in my fridge from a friend who didn't like it, so I might be drinking that with you all in mind.

"Have you ever heard the expression, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then throw it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you originally asked for?’"

"Have you ever heard the expression, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then throw it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you originally asked for?’"

stupac2 wrote:I drink everything from a glass now, unless (like PIE) I don't really want to taste it. Which is the case for a few things I have left. Or, I guess, if I'm feeling lazy.

I should get some more glasses, right now all I have are the Chimay one and 4 of the Sam Adams ones.

I mostly drink from the bottle/can because I'm a heathen like that. But I also have an extensive glassware collection. My tendency to go to bars a lot means I have a lot of opportunities to... acquire interesting glassware. I suggest buying glassware from the breweries you enjoy rather than just generic stuff. Makes things more fun. (I know you don't go to bars much, so that's not much of an option.)

I liked the part where you friended me and then a few days later, "Who the crap is Steve?"

"Have you ever heard the expression, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then throw it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you originally asked for?’"

JennyUnderpants wrote:I'm jennyunderoants. I'm also deunk. I know, o. Lynn 2. Beers. I never said I could him my luquoen. Who the duck is matt from. Cincinnati? Curse these tiny keys on my phosne

Ahahahahahaha.

(sorry)

"Have you ever heard the expression, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then throw it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you originally asked for?’"

you laugh, but i figured out who matt is. my incredibly intuitive and astute brain saw the part where his url says "omri". go me! I wish yhou guys could see my hair because it looks ridiculous right now.

stupac2 wrote:Can anyone in here get Bell's stuff and Kentucky Breakfast Stout (by Founder's) and want to do a beer trade? I really want to try me some Hopslam and KBS...

If you're only looking for 1 bottle of KBS, I have one that I'd be willing to part with from my recent 4pack acquisition.

Hopslam might be a little tougher to come by. Its toward the end of its release cycle, and it tends to move fairly quickly. If you don't have any luck, I can try and call a few of my beer distribution friends back in Cincinnati and see if they can locate any. It is, by the way, super delicious. Two Hearted Ale is also really good, just not the super intense double ipa that Hopslam is.

So a byproduct of using Untappd is that now I have badge fever and am starting to buy & order drinks based on the potential badges that the drink might unlock.

Case in point is the hoptopia badge. I'm planning on picking up some British IPAs this weekend so that I can pick up that badge. I'm very certain that I wouldn't have picked them up otherwise.

I'm also planning on going to Thirsty Bear (http://www.thirstybear.com/brewery) this weekend and drinking some organic beers to get the organic beer badge. Another thing I probably never would have done because tapas restaurants annoy the hell out of me.

I think its the appropriate mix of being an obsessive collector and incentive to branch out.

I'll take a look at Jungle Jim's next time I'm over there and see if they've got any currently. I haven't tried either, but I would certainly like to. How many bottles of each are you looking for? Also, how would shipping it work? I imagine that could get quite expensive.

Last edited by Omri on Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

We had Hopslam out here stu, unfortunatly it is a limited run each year and this years is done. So for that one you are going to have to be lucky in the bottle dpt. I will try to get out and take a look later this week and see if we have any left.

Omri wrote:I'll take a look at Jungle Jim's next time I'm over there and see if they've got any currently. I haven't tried either, but I would certainly like to. How many bottles of each are you looking for? Also, how would shipping it work? I imagine that could get quite expensive.

If we trade we'd each just pay our own, I think it cost me <$20 to shit ~5 beers fedex ground. If you don't want anything from here I'd just pay you for it.

And 1 or 2. I don't need a ton.

Also, crap, numen. I wish I'd been thinking of that, I'd have asked for it. I've known I've wanted to try hopslam for a long time, I guess I didn't think it got down there.

Also also, you'd be surprised how long "limited release" stuff can last in some places.

I went to Jungle Jim's to check, and they were pretty much like "yeah, there's no way you're going to be able to get Hopslam or KBS." They said that they get the most KBS of anywhere in Ohio, and instead of selling 4-packs, only sell them as single bottles, and they still sell it out in 2 weeks. Hopslam is apparently not that a whole lot better either. Sorry stu.